BACK TRACKING ...

Waiting for the ferry at Rafina

Well, winter proper is here. Mount Psiloritis is covered in a thick grey blanket and the closer foothills have disappeared from view as well. We arrived back in the village on Friday from our travels in Evia and were relieved to get back from the airport in dry, if overcast weather because it was after dark by the time we arrived home. Ma CrozIer had driven round half of Evia from the Southern tip to the half-way point at Chalkis and back again. She is very relieved to be back without incident. Summer to Winter is a full commitment here in Crete because all the lightweight summer clothes have to be put away and the heavy woollens retrieved. There is no space for two seasons clothes to live side by side as the difference is so extreme. We had delayed thinking about shifting heavy cases before we left and set about hauling out our big storage trunks in a joint effort as soon as we got back.

Evia was interesting after thirty-two years. We remembered a dry dusty landscape with a few desultory bars and cafes by the roadside, but what a difference now. Far in the south where the main road crosses the mountains, the roads were in poor shape with lots of hairpin bends. Evia has adopted wind farms in the blustery south and there are miles of them. K was also amazed to see two or three fish farms in the little bays close to the road. The weather was bright for late October and there were a few people still swimming in the resorts we passed.

Marmari - Hotel Thea

As we progressed further North, the roads improved and we noticed that places that had been fishing villages years before were now fair size towns with suburbs. The roadsides had large outlet stores, petrol stations, garden centres and large supermarkets from Carrefour and Lidl. Chalkis was enormous with a confusing one-way system where we promptly got lost and opted for the nearest paying car park we found. It was only 100 yards from the hotel booked, but it was difficult getting our luggage there and we rashly got a taxi to drop us all off with our bags.

Chalkida

Chalkis was nice and I had planned a day of shopping and getting my hair done (which is never easy travelling without the proper equipment). We hadn't accounted for the fact that Wednesday was Oxi Day – a national holiday – and absolutely everything was shut except for restaurants. After enjoying the parade from our balcony, we ate out at a popular taverna on the front called Delphinia where the staff were working flat out to get the crowds of customers served.

On Thursday, we started the journey back. As we emerged from the big city with masses of cars, traffic lights and confusion, we got to the point in the journey where the sign post said Eyboia N and Eyboia B. We had to make a decision between turning left (B) or going straight on (N). I knew that we should be travelling South and couldn't decide which road to take. After a few minutes “dialogue” about whether the signs were in Greek or not and whether N meant North or not. They were in Greek and N stood for South! We stopped at a filling station to check and carried straight on heading South (N)!!! All very confusing. Sadly, we had not left enough time to get to the archaeological sites, but that will have to await a further visit.

The front path to the old house.  

On the other hand, we were delighted to find K's parents old beach villa which had been sold about 30 years ago and was hidden by vegetation, but still there. We feared that a large hotel complex may have swallowed it up. The trees, just saplings in our time were now mature tamarisks and pines. They shaded the road which was lined with lovely shrubs and seemed like woodland. Stopping delightedly to take photos of the house and causing all the neighbourhood dogs to bark and yelp, a next door neighbour emerged to ask who we were and after a few moments, we all recognised one another! The Chronos's had been friends of K's parents and working colleagues, so catching up with their son Hector and family was a good moment.

The souvlaki joint had changed a bit!

After pressing on to Eretria, where we used to catch the ferry to Athens and eat souvlakis bought from an old wooden shack on the water front years back, we were overawed to find a largish town, schools, sports pitches and apart from the Dreams Island out at sea, couldn't recognise much else. In spite of this we stopped for a coffee before continuing our journey.

Karystos

We had time to spare, so we continued further than our destination of Marmari to the southernmost town of Karystos where we stopped for lunch. The whole trip had featured fish on the menu to an overwhelming extent – so we enjoyed it for the last time before getting back to our lovely hotel in Marmari for the night. We needed an early night to get to the ferry to Rafina in the morning, then to the airport and our flight back to Heraklion.

Crete is very cloudy and rainy still, so with some fair weather under our belts, we are tackling the log burner and the wardrobe change round with renewed energy.

Kalomina! x